Asparagus Thoran Recipe

Yeah you read right. I actually made a thoran with asparagus and it tasted good enough for me to want to share it with you! I originally bought the asparagus to make some baked or grilled dish with it. That's the week I fell sick and couldn't think beyond the simplest recipes like rasam or thoran or dal chawal. So here you go. 

What I Used:

Asparagus - 15 spears

Grated coconut - 1/2 cup

Jeera / cumin seeds / jeerakam - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Green chillies - 2 to 3

Shallots - 3 to 4, sliced thin (optional)

Curry leaves - a few

Oil - 2 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Salt - to taste

How I Made It:

1. Wash and remove the hard end of the asparagus spears and cut into 1" long pieces. Place in a pan, drizzle some water generously and cook covered on low fire for about 5 mins until the pieces are softer yet crunchy. Note that I used very slender variety of asparagus so probably the cooking time was much lesser. 

2. Grind the coconut with the jeera, turmeric and green chillies. 

3. Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds and curry leaves. Once the mustard seeds start to pop, add the sliced shallots and fry until golden brown. Then add the cooked asparagus and the ground coconut. Adjust salt. Let it cook for about 5 mins more until the coconut and asparagus is well combined. 

Makes a good combination with steamed white rice and some curry.